Monday, February 28, 2011

1917 Etowah Aluminum Sluggersimage from Dennis Stewartincluded in a paper on the Dickey family prepared by John Harshaw

Spring had not yet officially arrived. The temperature in the area reached the low 60s on Sunday, March 11, 1923. Thoughts of baseball crossed the players' minds. Then things went wrong. Horribly wrong.

So, three newspapers accounts differ. What really happened? Who was to blame? To add to the confusion, we have to look at the Death Certificate. Walter? What happened to Claude? Pistol wound? Where did the knife of the newspaper stories end up? The birth date given by Martin Dickey doesn't match up with the date on Claude's Draft Registration. One thing that seems consistent is that Mr. Walter/Claude Dickey died as the result of profuse loss of blood.

I assume that informant, Martin Dickey, is related to Claude. There was a Martin Dickey in the 1920 census. That family was next to the Ben Dickey family. Fland/Claud was enumerated with the Ben Dickey family. Martin Dickey has a son named Claud. Was Martin an uncle to Claude the pitcher? The 1900 census seems to indicate that.

Was "Steel Arm" Dickey a bootlegger? A black man in the wrong place at the wrong time? A ruffian? A good Samaritan? It is possible that he could have been all of those. What I do know is that he died on March 11, 1923.

Soon he was facing the lethal St. Louis Stars of the Negro National League. "They were a tough club," says Papa. "And mean! They had a fella named Steel Arm Dicky. Used to make moonshine as mean as he was on the side. His boss killed him when he began to believe Steel Arm weren't turnin' in all the profits."

Friday, February 25, 2011

"Steel Arm" Dickey's name was Claude. Or Claud. Or Walter. Many of the documents I've seen call him Claude. In searching on Ancestry.com I was able to find a Claud Dickey in the 1900 Census. He's listed as the grandson of Ben and Frona Dickey. They were living in Fannin County, Georgia. That is on the northern Georgia border. Ben and Frona had only been married for nine years. Claud is three years old at the time the census was taken, so let's call his birth year 1897.

The 1910 Census finds the Dickey family no longer in Georgia. I found them in McMinn County, Tennessee, two counties removed from Fannin County. Claud is now 13. And it appears that his grandmother's name is really Franie. Claud hasn't been to school lately.

In 1918 Claude Dickey registered for the Armed Forces Draft. The United States was at war with Germany. We find a birth date and location. Blue Ridge, Georgia, is in Fannin County. Claude is working in the aluminium business as a day laborer. The business was probably the Aluminum Company of America, based in Blount County, Tennessee, which is two counties away from McMinn County.

I cannot find Claude in the 1920 Census. Ben and Franie are still in McMinn County. Ancestry.com lists a "Fland" Dickey, their grandson. I think that this is a census taker's transcription error and "Fland" becomes "Claud". Fland/Claud is a laborer in a Rail Road Shop. Claud's age fluctuated since he registered for military service. A year and a half later he's lost a year. He's now 21. Claude will be pitching for the Knoxville Giants a few months after this census was taken.

I have not traveled to McMinn and Fannin Counties to look for more information on Claude and the Dickey family. Hopefully there will be some records that will provide a more complete look at the man who would soon loose his life in a tragic manner.